The present invention is related to a resilient clip for electrically connecting an electrical conductor cable associated with medical equipment or the like to a conventional male electrode. Such electrodes are well known in the medical field and typically comprise a conductive male projection having an enlarged head for association with the clip and a base carried by a patch or the like adhesively secured to the patient. Such an electrode is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,750,094 dated July 31, 1973, and another similar structure is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,606,881 dated Sept. 21, 1971. This male-type electrode is typically called the "snap-on" or "button" type of terminal.
To such conventional male-type electrodes, the prior art has applied snap-on terminals and terminals comprising a pair of pivotal plates normally biased apart but movable into overlapping condition to provide passage of the enlarged portion of the male electrode. Upon subsequent release of a closing force, the plates have operated to tend to retain the clip in position on the male projection, below the enlarged head thereof.
I have found, however, in the utilization of prior systems known to me, that proper insulation of the clip conductor elements has not been provided, with the result that possible electrical disturbances may occur in the monitoring circuitry through inadvertent contact with the male electrode or exposed conductors carried by the clip. Further, I have found that the clips employed in the prior art may be inadvertently tilted by the application of a lifting force to the terminal cable conductors in a manner permitting a cam action tending to permit the clip to snap over the enlarged portion of the electrode and become disconnected therefrom.
The present invention is, accordingly, directed to providing a more secure medical clip which protects the circuit with which it is used from inadvertent disturbances, which is particularly secure in its attachment, and which is not subject to disconnection by way of inadvertent tilting action.